Dog Training Review by Molly and Simon T.

Merlin, a border-collie, loves to swim. He was born and raised in Seattle. Merlin grew up chasing frisbees and balls in Lake Washington. He could play in the water for hours and never get tired. We moved from Seattle to California and were excited that we moved into a house with a pool. We thought that Merlin could continue spending hours in the water with his toys.

To our shock, our water-loving dog was terrified of the pool. Merlin would not go near the pool. He circled widely around the pool when in the backyard and hid in the bushes at the first sight of us in our swimsuits. We asked Ralf to help us with this issue. Ralf modeled for us how to slowly and consistently expose Merlin to the pool. As opposed to carrying him into the pool, which we were doing. We spent the first week just walking Merlin calmly and assertively around the pool, reinforcing that the pool was not scary. Over time, we slowly started walking Merlin into the pool. After two weeks, Merlin was successfully swimming in the pool with reckless abandon.

Ralf demonstrated a mastery of dog psychology and taught us specific techniques to address various dog behavior problems. And we learned how we humans contribute to the problem. We feel such gratitude for Ralf and his support. We recommend anyone to contact Ralf if they are experiencing any type of issue with their dog with the highest regard. Thank you, Ralf!